Mourinho signed Man United flop Falcao after Terry and Cahill recommendations

The Colombian hitman joins up with his new team-mates tomorrow ahead of the first game of their US tour on Thursday morning against New York Red Bulls.

Mourinho believes the 29-year-old on-loan Monaco striker can fill the void up front left by departed hero Didier Drogba.

And he has backed him to recover from his nightmare spell at Manchester United last season.

He bagged just four goals while at Old Trafford.

But he still received a glowing report from Blues defenders Terry and Cahill after Chelsea's 1-0 win over United in April.

ON FORM: Falcao celebrates his 2012 hat-trick against Chelsea [GETTY]

Mourinho said: "Last season I watched our home game against Manchester United a few times because of him.

"I spoke with John and Cahill a lot about him and we think the bright movement is there, the movement to get freedom in the box to score goals is there.

"Our players had difficulty to control him and we feel the potential is there.

"Let's see if he can improve his confidence, his happiness.

"We have a good community of Portuguese people, plus the guys who were with him in Atletico Madrid, let's see if this situation can help him.

FALCAO FAN: Mourinho [GETTY]

“He is not happy that in England people think he is not as good as he is”

Mourinho on Falcao

"We believe that now he has already played a season in the Premier League, he could be a different player."

Mourinho knows all about Falcao's struggles at Old Trafford but refused to stick the knife into United boss Louis van Gaal over his handling of the misfiring Colombian.

Falcao will not feature on Thursday and is unlikely to figure when the Blues take on Paris St-Germain next weekend either.

Instead, Mourinho plans to unleash him against Barcelona in Washington DC next week.

With Diego Costa still Chelsea's go-to man up front, the battle is on for Falcao and Loic Remy to land a supporting role.

Mourinho wants all his strikers busting a gut though and said: "I will give him half an hour against Barcelona.

"But he has to be ready for the first league game. Maybe not the Community Shield. After two-and-a-half weeks of training, he must be ready.

"He can be second, first or third choice. He knows, Diego knows and Remy knows that. It is open competition between the three of them. That's our objective, that's why we want three strikers ready and important.

"Last season Remy was basically the third forward, but he scored so many important goals for us in crucial moments that gave us crucial points - the goal against Hull City, the goal against Stoke.

"And Falcao is so motivated. When you are a top player, you have to live with this all through your career and you adapt to it. We felt his frustration. He is not happy that in England people think he is not as good as he is.

"That's his motivation."

Meanwhile, Brazilian full-back Filipe Luis could be heading back to Atletico Madrid, just a year after arriving for £13m, while flop Mohamed Salah is heading to Roma.